R.I.P. Vernon Baker

[del]

thank you

NEW YORK — Vernon Baker, the only living black veteran awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in World War II, receiving it 52 years after he wiped out four German machine gun nests on a hilltop in northern Italy, died Tuesday at his home near St. Maries, Idaho. He was 90.

The cause was complications of brain cancer, said Ron Hodge, owner of the Hodge Funeral Home in St. Maries.

“I was a soldier and I had a job to do,’’ Mr. Baker said after receiving the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for bravery, from President Clinton in a White House ceremony on Jan. 13, 1997.

But in the segregated armed forces of World War II, black soldiers were usually confined to jobs in manual labor or supply units. Even when the Army allowed blacks to go into combat, it rarely accorded them the recognition they deserved. Of the 433 Medals of Honor awarded by all branches of the military during the war, not a single one went to any of the 1.2 million African-Americans in the service.

Vernon Baker, 90; Medal of Honor recipient for WWII heroism - The Boston Globe

 

[Oddball]

 

[Dante]

thank you

NEW YORK — Vernon Baker, the only living black veteran awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in World War II, receiving it 52 years after he wiped out four German machine gun nests on a hilltop in northern Italy, died Tuesday at his home near St. Maries, Idaho. He was 90.

The cause was complications of brain cancer, said Ron Hodge, owner of the Hodge Funeral Home in St. Maries.

“I was a soldier and I had a job to do,’’ Mr. Baker said after receiving the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for bravery, from President Clinton in a White House ceremony on Jan. 13, 1997.

But in the segregated armed forces of World War II, black soldiers were usually confined to jobs in manual labor or supply units. Even when the Army allowed blacks to go into combat, it rarely accorded them the recognition they deserved. Of the 433 Medals of Honor awarded by all branches of the military during the war, not a single one went to any of the 1.2 million African-Americans in the service.

Vernon Baker, 90; Medal of Honor recipient for WWII heroism - The Boston Globe

I had the news off all day.

“I was a soldier and I had a job to do,’’ Mr. Baker said after receiving the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for bravery, from President Clinton in a White House ceremony on Jan. 13, 1997.


thank you for posting this.

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[Modbert]

Thanks for posting this Del.

 

[Luissa]

I saw him here when he did a veterans event a few years ago. St Maries is only about two hours from here, and I guess they will be having a memorial service for him there.. Everyone in town spoke about how they are very proud he was from St Maries. I will find a clip from the local news station.

 

[Luissa]

If you to the link and scroll down to top videos, there is interview from residents of St Maries.
KHQ Right Now - News and Weather for Spokane and North Idaho | - KHQ Home

 

[random3434]

Of the 433 Medals of Honor awarded by all branches of the military during the war, not a single one went to any of the 1.2 million African-Americans in the service.

Wow, I didn't know that until I just read this!

Thank you, President Clinton, for honoring this hero!

And thank you, Vernon Baker, for your service!


God Bless!

 

[Foxfyre]

It is stories like this that are heart warming and make you proud, but at the same time are so frustrating because we so often can't undo injustice that has already been done. Nobody can give back Vernon Baker the pride and meaningfulness that Medal of Honor would have held for him had it been awarded as it should have been.

It should be a lesson to us not to delay thanking those in our lives and who give of themselves on our behalf and who deserve thanks. We shouldn't wait to praise those who deserve praise or rewarding those who have earned reward or acknowledging those who have accomplished great things or contributed great service. If we wait, we might lose the opportunity.

There is more to the Vernon Baker story:

In 1944, 2nd Lt. Baker was sent to Italy with a full platoon of 54 men. On April 5, he and his soldiers found themselves behind enemy lines near Viareggio, Italy. When concentrated enemy fire from several machine gun emplacements stopped his company's advance, Baker crawled to one and destroyed it, killing three Germans. Continuing forward, he attacked an enemy observation post and killed two occupants.

With the aid of one of his men, Baker attacked two more machine gun nests, killing or wounding the four enemy soldiers occupying these positions. Then he covered the evacuation of his wounded soldiers by occupying an exposed position and drawing the enemy's fire.

On the following night, Baker voluntarily led a battalion advance through enemy mine fields and heavy fire.

In all, Baker and his platoon killed 26 Germans and destroyed six machine gun nests, two observer posts and four dugouts.

He said later he felt the company commander, who said he was going to get reinforcements, had abandoned his group of men.

"It made me all the more determined to accomplish our mission," he told the PBS series American Valor. "Because at that time the Army was segregated. It was thought that we were unable to fight."

No black soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II, although Baker did receive the Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and Distinguished Service Cross.

In 1993, U.S. Army officials contracted Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C., to study whether there was a racial disparity in the way Medal of Honor recipients were selected.

Historians did not find official evidence suggesting racial bias in the Army's award policy. But the study's authors say the political climate and common Army practices guaranteed no black soldier would ever receive the military's top award.

The university researchers recommended 10 soldiers to receive it. From that list, Pentagon officials picked seven.

But there was one problem — the statutory limit for presentation had expired. Congress was required to pass legislation that allowed the president to award the Medals of Honor so many years after the action.

Vernon Baker was the only recipient still living; the other six soldiers received their awards posthumously, with their medals being presented to family members.

Baker was initially rebuffed when he tried to join the Army. Baker said in an interview with public television that a recruiter told him there was no quota for enlisting "you people."

Reflecting on life in a segregated Army unit, he told The Washington Post, "I was an angry young man. We were all angry. But we had a job to do, and we did it." He added that he "knew things would get better, and I'm glad to say that I'm here to see it."

Baker returned to his northern Idaho home after the war. When he received a call telling him he was to receive a Medal of Honor, at first he was astonished. Then he was angry.

"It was something that I felt should have been done a long time ago," he told Idaho public television. "If I was worthy of receiving the Medal of Honor in 1945, I should have received it then."

Baker called his 1997 memoir Lasting Valor.
Medal of Honor hero Vernon Baker dies at age 90 - USATODAY.com